Sensational Jonah, the game’s first global star

Brendan Gallagher looks back at the players who shone on the biggest stage, this time he goes back to 1995 and Jonah Lomu's incredible tournament

It's a quiet corner of a five star hotel in Johannesburg four days before New Zealand open their 1995 World Cup account against Ireland at Ellis Park. A giant man-boy with comically oversized headphones enveloping his ears is sitting alone on a settee, bored as only teenagers can be bored, and counting down the minutes before All Blacks press officer Ric Salizzo tips him the wink and he can buzz off back to his room.
It’s a very young Jonah Lomu ...

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